Genre: Horror
LOST SOULS
By Randy
Romero
December.
1991.
Wednesday
evening.
Happy
Hour.
“Cheers,”
Vinny Lopresti said, raising his glass.
“What
are we celebrating?” Lou Burkhart asked.
“Tradition.”
“Tradition?”
“It’s
been seven years since we started coming to Flanagan’s. Same bar, same after work
ritual, seven years in a row.”
“Isn’t
seven years supposed to be bad luck or something?”
“No,
seven years is the penalty, the consequence. Like they say breaking a mirror is
seven years of bad luck.”
“Either
way, it feels unlucky to me. Let’s drink to something else.”
“Then
let’s drink to victory,” Vinny declared. “I pulled off a miracle in that
courtroom today.”
“To
victory,” Lou said and they drained their glasses.
Vinny
was debating switching over to hard liquor. Why not? It was a night to
celebrate. He’d just won the biggest case of his professional career, and saved
a man who was facing life in prison. The money was just a bonus. The mafia tend
to be high paying clients.
Before
he could decide on hard liquor or another beer, the bartender refilled their
glasses and gave them a round on the house, and they went on drinking and
talking.
“I still want to know how you pulled that off,”
Lou said.
“They
had nothing on the guy. His prints weren’t on the gun, there was no serial
number, no way to trace it back to him. They had one eyewitness, and any cop
will tell you, eyewitnesses are rarely reliable. Put them up on the stand and
they could easily destroy the whole case you’ve built. This eyewitness turned
out to be on the sauce the night she allegedly saw our guy in question. Factor
in her age and her mental stability and it wasn’t hard to discredit her testimony.
It also didn’t hurt that she showed up to court reeking of booze.”
“Incredible.
I don’t know how you do it. But I bet you’re happy to put this whole thing
behind you.”
“I can
definitely sleep a lot easier knowing that the mafia won’t be discarding my
body in a river. And I won’t lie, the money was worth the risk.”
Lou was
practically in awe of his friend, but it was clear to Vinny what set the two
men apart. Vinny had one trait that Lou severely lacked. Charisma. When he
talked, people listened. His words could be very persuasive. That’s why Vinny
was a wealthy attorney and Lou was still kicking around as a public defender.
Vinny
tried giving him some pointers, but the man was hopeless. Lou Burkhart could
fuck up a cup of black coffee. He just didn’t have the magic that Vinny had to
pull it off in the courtroom. To Vinny, it was all an act. He wasn’t a lawyer,
he was a showman. And the judge and jury were his audience.
“How’s
life as a public defender?” Vinny asked, just making conversation.
“Ouch.
No need to throw salt in my wounds. It’s about as good as you expect. I
represent pickpockets and purse snatchers and illegal immigrants because they
all can’t afford a lawyer. My only clients are the ones too broke to afford my
services. The court cuts me a check and then I move on, next case.”
“Don’t
be so hard on yourself. You know I spent years as a public defender. You got to
pay your dues. Besides, I’m not always this lucky. I’ve had some blunders in
court. I mean not all of them were my fault though.”
“Oh,
I’ve got to hear this,” Lou said. He was a sucker for a good courtroom story.
“I was
representing this dumb, pitiful redneck. Below average IQ. Not the most
eloquent speaker. But he swears he’s innocent. Even has an alibi that sort of
checks out. And I’ll be damned, but he actually convinced me. Guy was accused
of stealing three trucks from his construction job. He says he was shacked up
with a girl the night it happened. I had my firm check her out. Of course she
turned out to be a druggie and therefore unreliable. But they didn’t have
anything on him. I figured somebody else stole the trucks and the company he
worked for was using him as a scapegoat. What I didn’t know was that they had
footage of the robbery.
But if
that wasn’t bad enough, this jackass made it even easier for them to convict
him. Two of the trucks disappeared. I can only assume they were sold for cash
or chopped up. I don’t know and I didn’t care enough to ask. The third truck
wasn’t hard to find. This dumb motherfucker rolled up to court driving one of
the stolen trucks. Just pulls right into the parking lot and strolls into court
like it’s no big fucking deal. They arrested him on the spot. I couldn’t even
convince the prosecutor to go for a plea bargain.”
Lou
laughed until his cheeks were purple. “That almost makes me feel better about
some of my cases.”
The
fiery redhead sat at the end of the bar, wearing wraparound sunglasses. How
long had she been sitting there? How had Vinny not noticed her until that moment?
She was impossible not to notice. Her beauty was virtually hypnotic. Did she
just walk in, or had she been invisible for the duration of Vinny of Lou’s
conversation?
Vinny
chugged his beer and waved the bartender over for another round.
“Who’s
she?” Vinny whispered to the bartender when he paid for his drinks.
“No
clue. Comes in here at least once a week and picks up some random guy. I guess
it’s that time of the week again.”
“What’s
with the sunglasses?”
“Beats
me. Ask her yourself. Maybe you’re the lucky guy she’s looking for tonight.”
“Yeah,
maybe.”
“You
know any good divorce lawyers?” Lou chimed in. “Carmella’s taking me to the
cleaners. Between that and the kid, I’m going broke over here. Joey wants some
expensive video game thingy for Christmas. The Super Nintendo.”
“Super
Nintendo? I’ve heard of Nintendo, but what the fucks a Super Nintendo?”
“I don’t
know, I guess it’s supposed to be better than the original. Fucking kids and
these gadgets. We didn’t have half that they had growing up. They’re spoiled
nowadays if you ask me.”
“I
concur. Listen, if you need help, I’ll put you in touch with a guy I know. He
specializes in divorce. Now if you’ll excuse me, happy hour is almost over, and
that pretty little redhead over there is calling my name.”
“Good
luck,” Lou scoffed. “A bit out of your league if you ask me.”
They
exchanged an awkward handshake behind the bar as Lou slipped him some cash and
Vinny slipped him a bag of cocaine. A little side business Vinny had going for
himself.
“Until
next time,” Lou said and made himself scarce.
Vinny
took his drink and moved to the end of the bar.
“Mind if
I sit here?” Vinny asked.
“Make
yourself comfortable, I guess,” she shrugged.
He took
a seat and introduced himself. “Vinny Lopresti.”
“Jade.”
“And do
you have a last name?”
“Just
Jade.”
Vinny
kind of enjoyed the whole mysterious act so he let it play out.
“Alright
then, Jade. I can’t help but notice your drink is almost empty. Next round is
on me.”
“I’d
rather finish this drink and get out of here. I know a place we can go…if you’re
interested.” And Vinny was.
Vinny
followed her out of the bar and into the alley.
“Where
are we going?” Vinny asked.
“Shortcut,”
Jade said, slightly ahead of him.
“Hey,
wait up,” he called.
Jade
stopped and turned to face him.
“I’ve
got to ask, what’s the deal with the sunglasses? You just have surgery or
something? Somebody hit you? If somebody hit you, tell me who they are. I’ll
take care of it. I know people.”
“I’ll
show you,” she said.
She took
her sunglasses off and Vinny froze, trapped in the stare of her glowing yellow
eyes. He was powerless, couldn’t move a muscle. Soon he became aware of the searing
pain. His eyes were burning intensely.
He
gasped for air, but found none. The color slowly drained from his face. Everything
burned now, as if his entire body was set ablaze.
“Can you
feel it?” she asked. “Can you feel your soul slowly leaving your body? It
amazes me that you even have a soul. All those murderers and thieves and rapists
you’ve helped get off over the years. All those poor customers you have hooked
on your little nose candy. You have no heart at all. And yet you still have a
soul a take.”
Vinny’s
lifeless body crumbled to the ground. Jade put her sunglasses back on and
walked away unseen. Vinny Lopresti was nobody special to her. Just another lost
soul added to her collection. Her quest would continue. Nothing would change.
Every night she sought out the dregs of society and claimed their very essence.
And in a city this corrupt, she didn’t have to look far.
She
hailed a cab, got inside.
“Hey,
toots,” the driver said, eyeing her up in the rearview mirror. “You need a
ride? I’d be happy to give you one, back at my place.”
“Not
interested,” she said. “Just take me home.”
“Oh,
come on, sweetie. I won’t hurt you. I’ll be real gentle.”
She
sighed. “You brought this on yourself.”
Jade
removed her sunglasses and the cab filled with bright light.
