The one day I need the ATM to work without issue is the one day the damn thing ate my card. Forced to go in the bank and talk to the teller is the worst when you have to say *Your machine ate my card*.
The bank is a small building on the corner, usually it's pretty empty. I thought I got lucky with only having one little old lady in front of me. That was until I saw her handful of paperwork while she gave a stare of pure death at the teller serving another man. Only one booth open, and I was expecting a long wait.
As the old lady walked up to the counter, three masked men come bursting through the glass doors. I turn to see them all holding weapons. One shotgun, and two small submachine guns. Instinctively I just threw my hands in the air in sheer terror.
"Every single one of you fucks get on the ground! Now!" shouted the man holding the shotgun, while the other two men straight out darted for the teller's booth.
I hit the floor harder then I did falling off my bike in grade school.
My eyes are closed, my face is buried in the floor, and I'm just praying they don't ask me for my wallet because it's emp-
"Give me your fucking wallet before I put a hole in your fucking skull" he shouts as I hear him cock the shotgun.
Fuck. FUCK!
I reach slowly around to my back pocket, and begin pulling out my wallet. Before I could reach it forward to give it to the crook, he snatches it out of my hand and opens it. He's pulling everything out like my medicare card, my royalties cards, and my library card.
I hear something hit the ground and I jump. It was heavy from the sounds of it. I was too scared to open my eyes for the sake of it being the guy pointing his shotgun at me. Then I hear him muttering...
"Oh fuck... Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck" Over and over and over he's muttering to himself.
"We're fucking dead... She'll fucking shoot us if she finds out we did this..." he says to himself softly. He suddenly drops everything, puts something infront of my face and I hear him backing up.
"Roger, Shane, we need to leave. Now." he says with a quickened panic in his voice.
"Like fuck we do! This stupid cunt is opening the safe! Why are you acting like you have a gun to your head! Stop backing up, grab that shotgun and help us out you dipshit!" shouts one of the crooks from behind the counter.
"No, you don't fucking get it. We need to go, now!" he shouts. "Forget the fucking money, drop your fucking gun, and run like it's your last fucking breath because if Taylor finds out what we did to a bank Mason Bloodborn was in at the time, we'll all be wearing a pair of concrete shoes in the river before the 6 o'clock news!" His voice has quickened as I open my eyes to my wallet closed and infront of me with all my cards nearly piled up on each other.
"Bullshit. This fucker can't be THAT Mason Bloodborn! Not a hope in hell!" shouts one of the crooks behind the counter, as he hurls himself back over and grabs my wallet. I shut my eyes again.
Suddenly there's another loud thud, this time right near my head.
"Shane! Get a fucking move on, now! We're leaving! Leave everything here! Fucking run!" shouts the crook next to me as I open my eyes to see my wallet infront of me again, this time next to a submachine gun. I look up and I can see what the crook is wearing clearly. Black ski mask, blue overalls. I can smell piss, and as I focus more, it's coming from the man that was just next to me, as he backed away from me with his hands up.
"We're extremely sorry, Mr. Bloodborn. We meant you no harm. Please, if you would be so kind as to not report this to Miss T, we'd be in your debt for life." says the first crook, now standing at the door with his hands up, facing me. I lift my head up more, and the crook that was just beside me now has a large wet spot around his crouch, as he continues to back away towards the door. Did he... Did he just piss himself?
I look around, and just as I turn around I see the last crook leap back over the counter bare handed and sprint for the door.
"Fucking run! Move it! Get the fuck out of here now!" he shouts as he pushes through the first two crooks, who take the hit and turn and sprint out the door themselves.
What just happened?
As I look around, the few people that were in the bank were looking at me. The old lady looked like she had her life flash before her eyes, pale and like she had seen something long forgotten. The teller still had his hands up and was looking at me as well, and a girl from behind the counter came out from the back room with her hands still in the air.
What the fuck just happened?
After a few minutes the police arrive and secure the area. They begin interviewing people and looking at the camera footage confirm what happened. I told the officer interviewing me what happened and asked him who Miss Taylor was.
"Queen of the underworld. No man, woman or in between has the strength to stand up to her. She's referred to as the Spider Queen. No one knows who she is or how she got her name, but every criminal in any sort of criminal network knows who she is, and the second you ask about her, everyone goes silent. People have admitted to crimes we have no proof they committed, rather then sitting there and speaking a single word about her." The detective told me.
No, it can't be. I went out with a girl called Taylor in highschool, and she was a massive spider fanatic. She loved them more then her own family and owned a King Baboon tarantula, something that was imported from Africa. There is no way that's her... I called her My Little Spider Queen because she was 5'8. No, it can't be.
"Do you know why these criminals just turned tail and ran from you? We dug a little bit into your name on the way here and all we can find is reference to a "No Harm List" that's either some tightly kept secret, or that you're involved with them" the sergeant asked, putting his pen and notepad down.
Before I could even reply, another police officer arrived and came straight over to us. This one was wearing what looked to be a more military based uniform. Like a suit, but definitely a police uniform. Kind of like those official ones you see on T.V.
"Sergeant Peters? I'm Commander Alex Kepler. I'm here on orders from Commissioner Davis to take Mr. Bloodborn into protective custody as of this moment." he says as he holds out an enclosed envelope stamped "Spider".
"Mr. Bloodborn, do you have all your belongings?" asks the commander as he reaches out his hand for a handshake.
"I do, thanks. Can you tell me whats going on?" I ask, responding kindly to his gesture. He guides me towards the door, without saying a word.
I look around as we exit the bank and see a single black car, windows tinted as dark as the night sky. You couldn't see in even if you had halogen lights. The commander opens the door and gestures me into the car. Inside is a man in a suit, black aviator sunglasses, and an ear piece. He turns to me with a look that feels like I'm being digitally scanned.
"Please enter the vehicle, Mr. Bloodborn" says the commander. I look to him to see him sweating slightly. I nod, sit down in the car, and the door closes. Without a chance to even put on my seatbelt, the car takes off and I nearly slide along the leather seat into the man I want to call The Terminator.
"What's going on? Who are you?" I ask, frantically stretching the seatbelt over me.
"Miss Taylor wishes to speak to you Mr. Bloodborn. It would be rude to ignore her requests" he responds. The tone of his voice almost felt like he was telling me I had no choice.
"Who is this Miss Taylor and what the fuck is going on? That's not the Taylor I think it is, is it? Taylor H-"
"It is best you keep quiet until we arrive, Mr. Bloodborn" cutting me off in a different tone this time. I could already tell that was "Don't you say anything else you dumbass."
The more and more that kept happening, the more and more I kept getting flashbacks about the girl I went out with in Highschool. She was a clutz, but cute. Nothing said fun more then the smile on her face whenever she was excited. There was nothing in this world that phased her.
That smile, though. He face was as smooth as a models and lips as crisp and ripe as cherries. I remember just staring at her for hours when we first got together for coffee and just listening to her go on about her pet spider Jaxx. I could tell you every little detail she ever mentioned about that spider solely because her enthusiasm about it was so genuine and pure, that every time she spoke, her words would just sink in and ingrain into your memory about it.
I remember her silky black hair. She would spend hours after her shower, making sure her hair would remain straight for the next day. Conditioner, followed by a thorough wash, followed by a cold rinse and then finished with her straightening it and tying it into a natural bun with no hair ties before bed. When she woke up in the morning, she would tug on a bit of hair in her bun, and it would perfectly fall apart and fall down to her shoulders. Without a doubt, it still looked perfect just like she had just washed it. It was so good to watch in the morning.
We fell out of touch after we broke up at the end of highschool. I was still living with my parents and without a job, so when they moved to the countryside, I was forced to go with them. We both agreed that if we were ever to move back to the city, we would get together for coffee again and catch up. Last I heard, she moved to America to pursue a business career a little more then 11 years ago.
Without noticing the car had stopped up outside a large warehouse at the docks just outside the CBD. I started to shake a little bit out of fear as I look back at The Terminator. He looks at me, and gestures the door. I nod softly, and as I reach for the handle, the door is pulled open before me.
"Mr. Bloodborn, this way please" gestures the man who opened the door.
I look towards the warehouse, and see armed guards on either side. I swallow my pride and walk over to the large doors. One of the guards lifts his hand off his weapon and touches his ear. He's says some things and then puts his hand back on his weapon. As his hand touches the weapon, the doors begin to open.
I'm still walking towards the warehouse, but it now feels like my legs are going to give way. It feels like my legs are trying their hardest to run, but my brain is saying "Don't get shot" every time they do, so they quickly fall back in line for another step.
As I approach the door, the guard that touched his ear nods at me.
"Mr. Bloodborn, Miss Taylor is at the back office waiting for you" he says as he points to the back corner of the warehouse.
Looking inside, I see things only boys dream of. Expensive supercars, a private jet, a table full of money and cute girls counting it in bikinis. What have I just walked into?
As I kept looking around I suddenly hear shouting in the distance. I knew that shout. I knew that shout without a second guess. It was her. It was Taylor.
"There's my Daddy Long Legs!" I hear as I turn to see a small woman dressed in black running towards me. High heels, black silky hair tied into a bun with a chopstick holding it together. A black dress with a frilly skirt. Underneath the frills, red fabric. Before I could say anything, she had already done her signature "Off with these annoying things" kicks, flinging her high-heels into the distance so she could run easier bare foot, because she felt like a horse clopping around when she wears high-heels.
As she got closer I braced myself. I knew exactly what she was going to do. She leaped right at the last moment and I caught her. Her arms wrapping around my neck, and her feet wrapping around my body. She jumped with enough momentum I had to spin around to make sure neither of us fell over.
"I missed you so much! I can't believe I get to see you again!" she shouts, squealing in pure excitement over my shoulder as she hugged on to me as if it was life or death.
She leaned back and stared at me, and then I remembered the feeling from back then. Her silky smooth skin, her crisp cherry lips. I also got to see her eyes that I had forgotten about; crystal clear blue. It was hard to explain, but you look into them and it was like you were staring into a sapphire. Every time her iris would move, there was a new sparkle I had never seen before, like a sparkle from a gem on display. It was something I missed the most, but could remember because each time I looked, it was if I was staring into them for the first time.
I was trying to think of what to say... *What's going on? What is all this? What the hell are you doing here?* But without thinking, I already said it.
"Hey there my Little Spider Queen, long time no see" as I finally fell to my knees, as if all the weight in the world was lifted off my shoulders and I collapsed from exhaustion.
We sat there and stared at each other for a while. I didn't notice it, but the guards and the girls counting money were all staring at us. I didn't care, though. I was caught up in the moment so much that it felt like everything was just at ease once again.
"Sorry about not calling you for coffee. I've actually been back in town for more then a year!" she chuckled, as I continued to stare.
"I guess I can forgive you, but only if you can tell me what's going on" I reply.
Taylor hugs me tightly again and then stands up. She reaches to me and drags me up off the ground. I stand up, but neither of us let go of each others hand.
"Well, since you can forgive me I guess I can tell you" she smiles as she pulls me further into the warehouse.
"If you haven't heard already, I'm known as The Queen of the Underworld, The Spider Queen!" she shouts as she uses her free hand to gesture everything in the warehouse.
I look around at everything once again, and take it all in. She owns all of this. The cars, the jet, the money. Everything here is hers. But how?
"When I went to America, I met a girl who's father ran the Mafia in Boston. After a short time, he showed me the ropes of the book keeping, and I began to work for him. In 3 years I managed to make him a huge amount of money on importing and exporting weapons, drugs, and anything in between." she let go of my hand and skipped ahead, spinning around a few times. Her dress opened up as she spun, looking like she was a ballerina. She stopped and looked at me.
"After a while, he came to me and told me that he wants to pass the business off to me and not his daughter. She had no sense for business. I said yes, and from then on, began to expand rapidly. I began to move cars and car parts, exotic statues and paintings, anything. If it was illegal, I would sell it!" she stood firm, with her hands on her hips.
It was happening again. The words she spoke just ingrained into me. Her excitement knew no bounds. I just stared as she twirled around slowly again.
"From there I began to operate in every country. It got to the point that I had other groups looking to join ours simply because we were so powerful. I was selling items to officials, Arab princes', I even sold statues to the Queen of England! Everyone was my customer, and in return I gained favors unbound by laws!" she shouts as she raises her hands in the air. She stopped and turned to me.
"That's when I got a great idea last year. I used my influence to move my operation to here, the USA, Oklahoma. My home city. The place where I grew up and met the man that changed my life. The man that gave me the confidence to be who I wanted to be. I decided that no matter what, you were to never be harmed, so I made a "No Harm" list!" she put her hands on her hips and walked towards me.
She stood infront, looking up at me.
"I decided that the man that I love, no matter who he was with, no matter where he was in life, will never be harmed by the hands of criminals or police. I decided that no matter what, I would support him however I could" she said, as she put her arms around me and hugged me tightly.
She did all that for me? She was protecting me from the crooks that she had control of? But why?
"You must think I'm crazy, being the person I am and the things I do, huh?" she buried her head into my chest, not wanting to look up at me. But she didn't once think that I wouldn't care about that.
"Why would I? All my fines suddenly disappeared. People seemed a lot nicer to me at banks, or at the social security office when I had to deal with all my medicare stuff. I applied for jobs and without a day even passing by, I got asked in for interviews, or when could I start. It was like having a guardian angel without knowing. How could I be angry about that?" I asked.
She began to sob. I don't know why, but she was crying a little bit. I don't want her to cry. I want her to smile. I want that smile back in my life. The smile that I could stare at for hours without looking away.
"Enough about that, there's something you need to tell me" I asked, trying to get her to look at me but she refused to.
"How's Frank?" I asked with a cheesy grin on my face.
Without missing a beat, Taylor whipped her head up and stared me dead in the face with that smile that was so pure. The smile I missed. The smile that I could lose myself in.
"He got bigger! Wanna' see!?" she said so joyously.
Before I could answer, she let go of me, grabbed my hand and started to drag me towards the office at the back of the warehouse.