Ruby Dust

one - gioelli

    The gloomy night sky was filled with white, glowing dots as the screams were heard. Loud, petrifying screams echoed through the walls of the narrow alley. Seven pairs of footsteps ran as fast as they could behind the pair of bare feet that sprinted for their life. The distant sound of sirens made everyone uneasy at the scene. 

    “Jade 65, Amethyst 32, Moonstone 91.” commanded one of the indistinctive male voices from a distance. 

    The female kept running for her safety but the confusion, adrenaline, and boiling blood rushing through her veins caused her to trip next to a dumpster. A cat screeched at her sight and quickly jumped away. 

    “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. They won’t find me here.” whispered the female so quietly she couldn't hear herself properly.

    Slowly but surely, she backed away into the darkness behind the dumpster. Her dry hands against the gravelly and dirty floor made her palms ache. Step by step, her bruised body disappeared into the shadows. Her breathing slowed down and her heart made an attempt to settle to its original pace. The female’s delicate fingers grasped everything she touched to orient herself. Everything was cold until she suddenly touched something warm.

    “Took you long enough.” 

    The second those words came out of the male’s lips, her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. The warm object she had touched a second ago turned out to be a hand that grabbed her by the throat prohibiting the air from going into her desperate lungs. She squealed and tried to grab the aggressive male by the hair to no avail. Things began to get blurry and six other shadowy figures emerged from a corner as if they were waiting there the whole time. Her eyes were fighting to stay open just to get a glimpse of one of the men. 

    “I… s-swear…. I’m going to kill y-you.” exclaimed the female as she gasped for air. 

    The facial features of one of the males got clearer as he got closer. Fair skin matched with dark, piercing eyes with such an evil yet innocent glow to them. His straight and thick eyebrows bent into a frown and his ebony eyes met hers causing her to slightly back away.

    “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

***

    “And this, my children, is how you plan the perfect murder.” Informed the boss with smoke coming out from his dry mouth.

    The seven young men looked at each other in confusion as the boss’ eyes scanned their facial expressions. As he inhaled his cigar for the seventh time, he raised an eyebrow and glared at the leader of the group.

    “All of you are indeed that stupid, aren’t you?”

    “Sorry, sir, but would you mind going over the plan just once more. We promise to fully understand your logic this time,” spoke out one of the males in the group.

    “This is the last time.” Announced the boss letting the smoke escape his nostrils forming light grey clouds.

    The boys looked attentively at the map in front of them. The boss’ long and hairy fingers made various irregular shapes as he signaled routes and movement. His remarkable plans were known for having complicated strategies, complex coding, and a solution for everything that could potentially go wrong.  

    ‘You’ll follow her in and spread out around the premise. You must blend in or else the security guards will discover you. We have to get as close to her as we can and then,” the boss raised his left arm ready to snap his fingers. “we take her outside. Is that part clear?”

    All the men present stood up straight and affirmed with deep and straight voices.

    “Agate, you tell them the rest, I’m going to finish my cigar and try to get some peace.”

    “Yes, sir.” Said the slim male as his short boss passed in front of his tall figure. “Let’s get this over with.”

    The elaborate plan began to become clearer as the leader of the group, Junghyun, made sure his teammates were understanding every single aspect of it. The leader’s silver hair covered his dark eyes as his head faced the map placed on the table.

    “Now, do you guys remember your code names?” asked Junghyun looking into his colleagues’ eyes already knowing the answer to the question.

    “I think I do.” Said one of the male voices breaking the awkward silence. He made his way to the front of the group and looked into his leader’s eyes pushing back his thick glasses. “Okay, so, if we remember what the boss told us at the beginning of our initiation, Jin would be Opal, Seok has the traits of Jade, Kook matches Spinel, Gi resembles Moonstone, Tae fits Amethyst qualities, Junghyun is just like Agate, and lastly, I am Lapis Lazuli.”

    “Very well done, Joon. Your attention to detail and memory has always amazed me.” said the leader happily as a soft smile took over his lips and the congratulated boy smiled in return showing his sweet dimples.

    After some more discussing and explaining, the boys finally memorized the plan to perfection. According to them, there was something about Junghyun that always soothed them and made them understand these plans that could confuse even the smartest of killers. Was it his deep and relaxing voice? Was it his ability to copy and paste information so fast into his brain? Was it his fatherly instincts? No one knows, but they are certain that he was chosen as the leader for a reason. He is perhaps not the smartest or the one with the best skills in the group, but something about his personality and way of thinking makes him stand out from the rest.

    “Gioielli!” called out the boss from the balcony he was resting at. “Would you bother to come here and demonstrate that I didn’t make the wrong decision by sparing your lives?”

    The seven men jogged up and placed themselves in a horizontal line in front of the clear glass doors. It was time to take action. There was one key thing to remember though: one mistake, one cut.

***

    All of them got into three separate Corollas varying in color to blend in with the rest of the cars in town. Seok, Kook, and Gi got into the white one and their section was the back. Jin, Tae and another of the boss’ apprentices sat inside the red car and got assigned the front area. Lastly, Junghyun, Joon, and the boss got into the black car; their section was the center. Each group arrived at different time intervals to the establishment to avoid any sort of suspicion. After all, all of them belonged to the most known and dangerous mafia of South Korea. Their subtleness and preparation would be those things to separate them from prison, or even worse, the other mafias around town.

    It was 11:15 pm when all of them arrived. The red light hanging from the ceiling in addition to the jazzy music coming from the small band on the stage gave the restaurant a sexy, cozy, and romantic atmosphere. As soon as they walked in, the target was evident; her name was Charlotte Eliados and she was an undercover drug dealer of the area. Her work was so organized and impeccably done that it took the boss’ technician two long months to find what her real name was. She was a target due to her lack of respect for territory and boundaries. For a mind like hers, there was no way she didn’t know she was committing such acts in their territory. Stefano, the boss, was also known for not letting occurrences like this slide off his fingers with ease.

    Gi was the first one to act. After the band stopped playing, he went up the small case of stairs into the stage adorned with a big, black piano. He sat gently in the cushioned seat and the first note signaled the beginning of the masterpiece of a plan.

    “Greetings, ladies,” said Junghyun as he stood next to Charlotte’s table. His black suit and perfectly styled hair made him look like a wealthy man who was hunting for his next sweetheart. “Would you, beautiful woman with blue eyes, give me the honor to dance with you?”

    “You know you don’t have to act like this is a Disney movie, right? You can be normal with me.” said playfully the target as she smirked. “I would love to, but who is going to dance with my niece?”

    As new information made its way through his ears, his vision shifted to the young woman sitting with Charlotte. Both looked foreigner to him, but there was something about this alleged niece that captivated him. Perhaps her light brown eyes, her delicate lips or her mixed features were the ones to make him gag for a second. As taken aback as he was by her beauty, he couldn’t let feelings get in the way of his mission. 

    “You shall not worry, darling. My friend here,” Junghyun shook his hand so Joon would come over. “would be just right for your beautiful niece.”

    “Okay then, show me what you got!” exclaimed the blonde drug dealer as she shifted her weight into her legs and stood up a few centimeters shorter than her new dance partner. She had a very tight red dress paired with big and heavy jewelry, and matte black heels.

    The niece, who remained anonymous, began to dance with Joon. Few words were exchanged between the two since both were shy and had no idea how to loosen up the tension. Gi’s soft melodies in the piano wondered and intrigued most of the people in the restaurant. However, every single one of those keys he pressed meant something for his group. With everyone including the target hypnotized by the music, it was time for Kook to act. Despite him being the youngest of the group, his abilities with computer software were superior to anyone else’s. He swiftly made his way through the crowd and managed to sneak to the CCTV room and with his hacking techniques, he managed to freeze the frame and get out without being noticed.

    “This just gets easier by the day.” Scoffed Kook with a smirk across his face as he integrated himself back into the party.

    Tae saw Kook walking back and making a circle with his hands; it was his turn now. He rushed to the stage next to Gi and grabbed the microphone sitting by the side of the stage. He began to sing a soft ballad with his tender and deep voice. The melody was so pleasant that it could bring anyone to their knees and cry. This got even more people distracted from their evening which gave the boys time to accomplish their mission. Jin and Seok silently took down the security guards around the restaurant as Junghyun was still distracting Charlotte. A wide smile was painted across her face and as the seconds passed, she got closer and closer to his slender body. He was only 19 and having a woman that was in her 30s so close to him and pretending to be attracted to her was not the most satisfying thing to do.

    “Do you want to come with me?”

    “Where to?” asked Charlotte as she chuckled.

    Junghyun got closer to her ear and whispered: “To the world of your fantasies.”

    The exciting words resonating so close to her ear made chilling shivers travel down her spine. Her grip on his back strengthened and his body got even closer.

    “What the hell are they doing?” whispered the drug dealer’s niece as she observed her courageous aunt give herself away to a hot stranger.

    “You shouldn’t use those words. Also, she is, in fact, an adult so she has the liberty to fool around with anybody she wants.” Answered Joon in a monotone voice looking into the hall past the girl’s head.

    “Sorry, I forgot you were there.” Said the girl as she lowered her head in forgiveness.

    “I have to admit though, they do look pretty weird. Is she like this with every man that approaches her? “

    “Haha. Yes, she is.” Another awkward silence emerged between the two young adults. “My name is Brooke, by the way.” Finally responded the female, obliterating the ongoing silence.

    “I’m Kyle,” answered Joon to hide his real identity.

    Tae finally finished his little number and clapping flooded the room. Cheers, praise, and even a red rose were thrown to the stage. Despite being part of a mafia, singing was his true passion. The love and warmth he received from the audience always managed to fulfill him. Gi felt the same; the musical glory produced by the pressing of simple white and black keys made him forget all his pain. His delicate fingers embellished with tattoos of all sorts and meaning slid around the keys creating magnificent harmonies, that paired with a voice so angelic like Tae’s, could shatter anyone’s heart to pieces of melancholy.

    “Come on, let’s get out of here.” Said Junghyun as he pulled Charlotte’s arm and got out of the establishment. Everything was going as planned. She was falling for it, no one had caught them, no prints were left. Absolute perfection, just like Stefano wanted.

    The two “lovebirds” were now at the back of the building. Alone under the moonlight, laughing and giggling, Junghyun pinned his target to the wall and kissed her neck gently. Her skinny hands brushed his hair and her ruby lips caressed his. The romantic session was interrupted by the buzzing coming from Charlotte’s phone. She was hesitant at first but answered anyway. 

    “What do you want?” asked the woman angrily through the phone.

    “I just wanted to know where you are,” answered Brooke with a concerned tone to her voice.

    “Brooklyn! You are not my mother. I can take care of myself. I also vividly remember telling you not to call me at this phone number.”

    “Sorry.” After her apology, she hung up.

    Charlotte looked at her phone and rolled her eyes. She proceeded to store the mobile device in her pocket and meet Junghyun’s eyes once more. 

    “So, where were we?” asked the fiery woman as she locked her arms around his stiff neck. 

    Junghyun threw her a fake smile and began to pull her waist closer to his body; just then, she felt how a cold, sharp, and thin object slit her dress. She shrieked in response and pushed the male’s body away. However, he was holding tightly to her waist. 

    “Don’t fight, okay? You’ll only make it worse for yourself. Now, let the jewels fall.”

    “What do you-” before Charlotte could even finish her sentence, the sharp object from before stabbed her in the back. Her screams were muffled by Junghyun’s hand. The burn ached to such an extent that tears uncontrollably fell down her eyes like waterfalls on a mountain. She kicked and kicked and managed to step on his foot with her heels and ran away. She ran and screamed desperately for help as a pair of footsteps charged at her from behind. After turning several times in attempts to lose her chaser, Charlotte impulsively took off her shoes and threw them away to make less noise while she ran. Due to the fact that her phone in hand was a burner phone, pressing the buttons would be too hard to do while running. No matter how much she tried, the footsteps would still be close behind her. Suddenly, the pair became two… and then three… and out of nowhere, seven.

    “WHAT THE f**k DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! STAY AWAY FOR GOD’S SAKE!”

    After chasing after the surprisingly fast woman and finally surprising her behind the dumpster, the seven men gathered around the dead body. Blood streamed from her back and head. When Kook surprised her from behind the dumpster, he stabbed her once more right in the kidney and slit both of her calves causing her to squint in more pain. The rest of the group got closer, and after Charlotte cursed Junghyun, he took the same knife he had used to cut open her dress and gave it to Seok. After all, he had the most skills with the knife. Seok knelt next to her lifeless body, took a hold of her structured face and began cutting. He made an incision that started from the corner of her mouth and ended halfway through her cheek; he repeated on the other side. Then, he cut out the shape of a sickle on her forehead and wrote “Polvere di Rubino'' underneath. He kept doing his usual work with the sharp object but decided to step out of the routine a little and carved a tear under her inert eyes.

    “What is the tear for?” asked Jin from behind the group of men.

    “She was a bad person. She deserves to cry forever.” answered the skilled knife-handler still focusing on his final cuts.

    All the boys were confused, this was not a usual behavior for Seok. He always was the bright ray of sunshine that was able to get out a smile from every person he spoke with. His brothers were of course perplexed by his attitude but telepathically agreed to discuss the manner after their mission was over.

    Finally, Seok stood up from the pool of blood and gave the knife back to his leader. They looked at each other and slightly nodded. Now, the seven guys were looking down at the dead target beneath them.

    “Mission accomplished, boys. Rudy Dust has done it again.”