The Business by confusedalarms . (read the beginning after the end novel .txt) 📖

how?

Febrary 1994. He had been walking after work everyday since then. Just walking to ease his stress. Stress? That would be an understatement, wouldn't it? You've gone completely

insane, mate!

Yes, that was true, and he knew it. It was almost a month ago now that he had seen Tina in the Starbucks, and he had gone over those few seconds countless times. It was etched into his mind forever just because he had retrieved it from the database of his long-term memory. Two weeks after those lifechanging seconds he had spotted an envelope on his bed when he was getting ready to go to sleep, an envelope made of paper of a strangely thick texture, almost like parchment, and with a purple seal on the back of it. On the front it said To the cheated one. Open only when

alone

. The seal had the letters TB on it in curly handwriting. 'What the fuck is this?', he asked the room. He tore off the seal and took out a letter written indeed on parchment.

Dear Mr. Anderson,

We know what you've been thinking. If you want it to happen, come to the alley behind Target on Jefferson Street at 11 pm sharp tomorrow. Bring all the money you have.

Yours,
Sir Edward, Vice-president of The Business.

IV: Interlude

A sharp pain in his forehead awoke him from his reverie. Lost in thought he had walked headfirst into a flashlight-pole. And maybe it was for the best. He'd rather have a headache for the rest of the day than re-experience what had happened after the letter. Now he had to focus. He noticed that in his half-hypnotic state his feet hadn't carried him closer to his destination at all. They had carried him straight to the Target 5 miles from his apartment. The one on Jefferson street. Jesus, I'm gonna be late!

That was the last thought that had anything to do with the present for a while.

V: Continuation

He couldn't believe he was seriously considering it, but he was. Oh yes. The first hour after he had found the letter he had just sat on the bed trying to think clearly. Then he had started arguing with himself. If you wanted to picture it in a cliché way, I guess the minature angel and devil were talking in his ear. At first the angel seemed to be winning, preaching forgiveness and saying she had been under great stress from the accident, that it wasn't her fault she was driven to commit such a heinous crime. But, of course, the minature devil always wins. Think of how she decieved you,

it said. She has

betrayed God by breaking the bond that ties you to marriage, and therefore she

must recieve the highest punishment: execution.

But really, it wasn't the bad part of his mind talking anymore. He knew he could never put it that way, all chic and classy. It was Sir Edward. The vice-president of The Business, whatever that was. And Sir Edward was right. She had to pay. But how? By going in the alley

behind Target on Jefferson street at 11pm sharp, stupid!

Yes, he would go. He would bring all the money he had. And hopefully, she would pay.

VI: Angry Thoughts

He was on his way to meet his unknown destiny, and he found it scary, but in some morbid way also exhilarating. He didn't know what was going to happen in the alley, but somehow he knew it would would change his life forever. The only downside seemed to be that it was cold. Very cold. And it was the kind of dry, freezing cold you would expect from the middle of December or January, but not at the end of February. At the end of February you would expect it to be cold, but a moist kind of cold, with the occasional rainfall here and there. But what did it matter if it was cold or warm? The adrenaline building inside him warmed him up as he walked along, and after ten minutes or so it didn't even bother him anymore. He had time to think about the letter, and the way he had encountered it. How had The Business gotten into his apartment without a key and without forcing locks or breaking windows? Maybe they can do

magic

. No. Don't be silly. That happens in the books and the movies, but not in real life. He found he had lost all belief in the supernatural, including God, at some point during his period of lonely depression. He could not remember it, he probably hadn't even noticed it, preoccupied as he was with thoughts of Tina and the black guy, how she had been screaming 'Oh God, fuck me Dwayne, fuck me right in the ASS!' right before he had kicked the door open, of how she had seemed surprised, but not concerned about her marriage at all. In fact, she had even seemed glad that he had found out, as if she had been waiting for it to happen so she could end her marriage and go be a slut. All this infuriated him, and when he went into the alley he was still filled with rage and ready for anything. But what he saw still scared the shit out of him.

VII: A Meeting With Edward

At first he didn't see anyone, and he had a feeling of anticlimax, of all that anxiety and anger leading up to nothing. It was probably just a practical joke to get me to walk 15

minutes in the cold,

he thought. But then a figure emerged from the shadows, smootly and with grace, like a lynx or any type of cat for that matter. And immediately he knew this was the real deal. There was something emmanating from him, something he couldn't really label. It was like a mix of despair and desire, two feelings that are normally never mixed. The figure came closer now, but he still couldn't see his face, it was still hidden by the extra pool of darkness his hat cast onto his features. But then he did come close enough, and Mark was nailed to the ground. His instict was to run, but the something radiating from the man (Thing, he thought, it's a thing) seemed to be able to overpower even the basic instinct of flight.
'Hello Mark,' he said. His voice was deep and seemed to be everywhere, filling his head like the physics formulas he had stamped into his head for his finals in high school.

'H....hello,' he said, 'Are you...'
'Edward? Why yes, I am.' His pronunciation of the s sounded oddly....snakelike.
'You should be honored that I'm meeting you in person. I usuall send servants, but your case intrigued me so much I thought I would stop by myself.'
Mark didn't know what to say. He was stammering like a nervous freshman giving his first ever presentation in High School. Edward noticed he wasn't going to say anything, so he said:

'Tell me Mark: Are you angry at her?'
'Yes.' No hesitation. 'I'm very angry and I want to make her pay. So are you going to help me or not?'
Edward smiled. 'But why make haste? We are having such a pleasant conversation, don't you think? Tell me, what did Tina do again?'
'Cheated on me with a black dude five weeks after we got married. I found her at a sleazy motel, getting fucked in the ass. The ASS

! God damn slut! Oh, sorry sir, please excuse my language.'
'Oh, I'm used to strong language and I don't have any problems with it. As a matter of fact I also think she's a little slut and that she should be taken care of. Don't you agree?'
'Yes.' Again, no hesitation, none at all. He was breathing heavily, his rage at Tina was like a fire in his mind that could only be put out by....'Blood,' he heard himself say. 'I want to see her blood.'
'Oh you will,' Edward said,' But first we will need some money. How much do you have with you?'
'Three grand. It's all I have. I took all my money out of my savings yesterday. I hope it's enough.'
'I'm afraid the standard price is $3500, but I think I'm willing to make an exception for you, in light of the tragedies you've experienced recently.'
'Thank you for the favor. When will she be killed? I want to know so I can be there to watch it happen.'
'Not so fast there, young man. Money isn't everything. You